Pest UK Privacy Notice
How Pest UK collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data, and the rights you have over it.
1. About this notice
Pest UK is committed to protecting your privacy. This notice explains what personal data we collect about you, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the rights you have over it. It applies whether you deal with us through our website, by email, phone or messaging app, through a Google advert, in person, or as a job applicant or employee.
We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
2. Who we are
Data controller: Berkshire Pest Control Limited, trading as Pest UK, company number 5700136, registered office at 8 Diddenham Court, Lambwood Hill, Grazeley, Reading RG7 1JQ
ICO registration number: ZC208782
Contact for privacy questions: email dpo@pestuk.com or write to: Data Protection Officer, Pest UK, 8 Diddenham Court, Lambwood Hill, Grazeley, Reading RG7 1JQ
3. How we use your personal data
The table below sets out each situation in which we collect personal data, what we collect, why, who we share it with and how long we keep it. The retention periods shown are our standard periods; we may keep data for longer where the law requires it or where it is needed for a legal claim.
Where we rely on “legitimate interests” we have balanced our interests against your rights and concluded that the processing is what you would reasonably expect and does not unduly affect you. You can object to any processing based on legitimate interests (see section 9).
Summary of how we use personal data
| Context | What we collect | Why we use it and our lawful basis | Who we share it with | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website visitors and cookies | IP address, device and browser type, pages visited, referring site, approximate location, cookie identifiers.
Analytics and advertising cookies are only set with your consent (see section 4). |
To run and secure the website, understand how it is used and improve it and (with consent) to measure and target our advertising.
Lawful basis: legitimate interests (running a secure, working website); consent (analytics, advertising and other non-essential cookies). |
Our web hosting and development providers; Google (Analytics, Ads, Search Console); other analytics or advertising platforms listed in our Cookie Policy. | Server logs: 60 months
Cookies: for the lifetime stated in our Cookie Policy |
| Enquiries by email, phone, WhatsApp and Google messages from Local Services Ads | Your name, contact details, address or postcode, details of the pest problem and anything else you choose to tell us.
Phone calls are recorded for training and quality purposes. WhatsApp messages are responded to by an AI assistant. Some enquiries are passed on to the office; otherwise you will be provided with a price and directed to the booking form if appropriate. You can ask for a member of our office team at any time. Google messages are automatically responded to and you will be directed to the booking form if appropriate. |
To answer your enquiry, give you advice and provide a quote or book a visit.
Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; legitimate interests (responding to enquiries, keeping records of what we have said). |
Our telephony, email (Microsoft 365) and messaging providers, including Meta (WhatsApp). Our booking and customer management software provider (Microsoft Dynamics). Our automation software (Make – Celonis) and AI assistant (OpenAI). | If you do not become a customer: 60 months from the last contact. If you do: see “Customers”. |
| Quote requests | Name, address, phone number, email, property type, pest issue, photos you send us, and the quote we give you. | To assess the job, prepare and send your quote and follow up on it.
Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; legitimate interests (following up quotes). |
Our booking and customer management software provider (Microsoft Dynamics); email (Microsoft 365) and messaging providers including Meta (WhatsApp). | Unaccepted quotes: 60 months from the quote date. Accepted quotes: see “Customers”. |
| Online booking form | Name, address, phone number, email, preferred appointment dates, pest issue, access instructions, and payment details if you pay online. | To schedule and carry out your appointment, send confirmations and reminders, and take payment.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you. |
Our booking software provider (Microsoft Dynamics); our payment processor (Authipay – we do not store full card numbers); our technicians who receive job details on their devices. | See “Customers”. |
| Customers | Contact and property details, service history, treatment reports, risk assessments, photographs of the property taken for the job, invoices, payment records, correspondence and any access or safety notes (for example, pets or vulnerable occupants). | To provide, record and follow up our pest control services, keep required treatment and pesticide records, invoice you, handle complaints and warranties, and meet our legal obligations.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract; legal obligation (accounting, tax, pesticide and health and safety record keeping); legitimate interests (managing our business, defending claims). |
Our technicians and office staff; booking, customer management and accounting software providers; payment processors; our accountants and insurers; regulators or enforcement bodies where required by law. | 60 months from the end of the tax year in which the last service was carried out, unless a longer period is required by law. |
| Google leads (Local Services Ads and Google Ads) | Name, phone number, email, postcode, the message you submitted and the service you asked about. For Local Services Ads, Google may record calls made through the ad and share the recording with us.
Google tells you about this when you make contact through the ad. |
To respond to your enquiry, provide a quote or book a visit and to measure and improve our advertising.
Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; legitimate interests (managing and measuring our advertising). |
Google (which is a separate data controller for the information it collects on its own platforms); our booking and customer management software provider. | As for “Enquiries” or “Customers”, depending on whether you go ahead. Google keeps its own copy under its privacy policy. |
| Feedback forms | Your name, contact details, the job you are commenting on, your ratings and comments. | To understand how we are doing, put right anything that has gone wrong, train our staff and improve our services.
Lawful basis: legitimate interests (service quality and improvement). |
Our survey or forms provider; our customer management software provider (Microsoft Dynamics). Anonymised results may be shared internally. | 60 months, after which feedback is anonymised or deleted. |
| Reviews on Google and Trustpilot | We may invite you to leave a review by email or text after a job. If you post a review, we see the name, rating and text you publish on that platform and we may reply publicly.
We do not receive your contact details from the platform unless you include them in your review. |
To invite genuine reviews, respond to them, resolve any issues raised and show reviews on our website and marketing.
Lawful basis: legitimate interests (reputation, service quality, marketing). You can opt out of review invitations at any time. |
Google and Trustpilot, which are separate data controllers for the reviews you publish on their platforms and have their own privacy notices. Trustpilot processes invitation emails on our behalf. | Review invitation data: 60 months. Published reviews remain on the platform under its own rules until you or the platform removes them. |
| Job applicants | Name, contact details, CV, employment history, qualifications, driving licence details, right-to-work documents, references, interview notes, and, for roles that require it, DBS check outcomes. | To assess your application, check you can legally work in the UK and decide whether to offer you a role.
Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; legal obligation (right-to-work checks); legitimate interests (recruiting suitable staff). Any special category data (for example, health information to support reasonable adjustments) is processed under employment law provisions. |
Recruitment job boards you applied through; referees; DBS or screening providers where applicable. | Unsuccessful applicants: 60 months after the vacancy closes, unless you agree to us keeping your details for future roles. Successful applicants: retained as part of your employment record. |
| CCTV (employees, contractors and visitors at our premises) | Images and footage of employees, contractors and visitors at our office. | To protect the safety of our staff and visitors, secure our premises, prevent and detect crime and investigate incidents or accidents.
Lawful basis: legitimate interests (security, health and safety). |
Our CCTV providers; the police or insurers where footage is needed to investigate a crime, accident or claim. | 30 days on a rolling basis, unless footage is needed for an investigation, in which case it is kept until the matter is resolved. |
5. Marketing
If you are a customer, we may send you service reminders and information about similar services by email or text under the “soft opt-in” rules in PECR. You can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in any message or by contacting us. If you are not a customer, we will only send you marketing with your consent. We do not sell your personal data or share it with third parties for their own marketing.
7. International transfers
Our data is stored in the UK however we use contractors in other countries to carry out work on our website and to answer calls and take bookings. Some of the providers we use, including Google, Meta (WhatsApp), OpenAI and Trustpilot, may process data in other countries outside the UK. Where this happens we rely on the UK Government’s adequacy regulations (including the UK-US Data Bridge where the provider is certified) or on the International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, so that your data receives equivalent protection.
8. How we keep your data secure
We use access controls, encryption in transit, secure cloud services, staff training and regular reviews to protect personal data from loss, misuse or unauthorised access. Technician devices are password protected and can be wiped remotely. We do not store full payment card details. If a data breach is likely to put your rights at risk we will tell you and the Information Commissioner’s Office without undue delay.
9. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy.
- Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure of your data in certain circumstances, for example where we no longer need it.
- Restriction of processing while a dispute about accuracy or use is resolved.
- Portability of data you gave us, in a machine-readable format, where we process it by automated means on the basis of contract or consent.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
- Withdraw consent at any time where consent is our lawful basis, without affecting processing that has already taken place.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 2. We will respond within one month, and we may ask you to confirm your identity first. These rights are not absolute and we will explain if we are unable to comply in full. We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. Our WhatsApp assistant gives prices from our standard price list, every booking is confirmed by a member of our team, and you can ask for a person at any time.
10. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, by phone on 0303 123 1113, or by post to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
11. Children
Our services are aimed at adults and businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16 other than incidentally, for example where a child is present at a property we treat. If you believe we hold data about a child inappropriately, please contact us.
12. Changes to this notice
We review this notice at least annually and update it when our processing changes. The date at the bottom of this page shows when it was last updated. Significant changes will be highlighted on our website and, where appropriate, notified to customers directly.
Last updated 12 September 2026